The Wilmingtonian., 1887-05-14
ADVERTISING RATES.
SATURDAY, MAY 1857.
POLITICAL DEPRANITY.
"MonmOutlI'S Shame" Discussed in
Sermon by Rev l.. p. BrOknw.

HaS' SIuud5 muInlnB REV. !. L. BfOkaw, |
of the Reformed Church III Freehold, dely- |
cred sermon on the political depravity of
the day in which he referred to vote -buyipr
as lying at the foundation of political cor
ruption, and incidentally referred to the mat
ter published in a eCent issue Of the UorM /
newspaper as the natural result of such cor
ruption. Mr. Brok4w took his text from
Exodus xviii 4lst verse:
"Moreover thou shalt provide ont of ali
the people able men, such as fear God. man
OF truth, hating cOveiousness; and place
such over them to be rulers Of thousands.
and rulers of hundreds, rulers of iifties and
rulers of tens"
In his opening remarks he showed that
this was the first civil service regulation of
winch history makes a lee prd; that it was
democratic in its Curm--the public officials
being chosen 'out Of all the pauple:" they
We're to be not the mere ''heters" of party
or candidate, but men morally aud intel. |
lectually qualified; not cunning Diplomats
but linen Of TRUTH" not seeking the mere
emolumcnts OF tffice, but "hating cuvetonS (
ness" and serving patriotcaly, because
called to the place. These regulations, too. /
applied to the lowest as well as to the binb- /
est Positions: TO the smallest postmaster as
well as to the cabinet minister, none of
which should be the mere reNald of marty
service, or of service for the party boss. .
Referring to the publication in the WOyM he
said: 1t is said by some that this is sian
derous exaggelation in sume respects. but
no one ventures to deny outright the sub
stantial and disgracelul truuh Of d luical
chlcanery and pcrverSion of Justice therein
exposed 1t only ilannts III ugly nakcdncss
the corruption which for years We have been
talking about "Huder breath" some see
IN It only the effort of one political faction
to overthrow another, That may be So but
the substantial tIGth OF these chaires re.
mains uuimpeachud. The common remal;
on the street is: There is nothing new in
them we have all known of these evil, a
long while" Here, then. | ind my case
and the Justification OF my sermon.
There exists in this country an open and
confessed shame. FIOm top to bottom our
politics are notoriously corrupt The pur
chase OF votes has bJen for years un.hal
ieDged by either party hIrn believed to be
politically depraved-whosG hands weie fun
Of bribes-have held influential ofii es Open
violations of civil law, Ike gambling At rnl,-
u" resorts, the sale OF liquor on Sundays aud
o. Unlicensed bars, have continued from
year tn ca and no earnest ctfbrt is made II,
s'"r'it n" aud then triflmg fine is i'm
l"'sGd ds sop to public sentiment, which
the criminals langhlngly Ian meanwhile,
thty are influential iu our politics AMI m,r
ipulaie tie nominations whirl vn,l,
'nasNe proud supporters of some "ntaid
oiu Pdtiy' 90 to the polls and yule tnI.
everyone believes that jules are often an
ranged to protect law breakers and than
many trials are mere muckerirs of inNticc
bnt nothing Is ever done about it and every
boiy knows why-"hush it will lint tho
panty; ''yon will hut some flirnd of min,.
VINO is III tlicr' Aud what is lie partv
that for it's sake lelgiou aud conntry shon,d
sutfei. One cannot but wonder some imcs
whether all the fire aud birthstone was uscd
up when Sodum was bmrcd.
The most alarming fast ur all is the in i +.
ference OF the public 10 thee evils. and th,,
diihcnlty of arnuring them to acton thar
shall br earn st AID rers,vering To rhe,nI
solomon sad when the wicked b,arctl,
iule the eOple moarn," but lcre tie prn
Pile de- not mourn. They go on like meek
slaves aud ht ms w:ckedut IS lave it, wav
\" unr m ikrs II Lis business t oppo,e If
No one rallirs his n,icLbor, 10 tho tinht
Not lung ago gentleman Of another town.
snip said to me that he wei remembered tn.
time Wien only twn or three men IN that
township sold their votes, aud they were re-
garded as worthless and beuea Ii cortcmpt
Now IN this township of Freehold five M,
six hundred ont Of elyvsm hundred yytcrs
tSlH 20 be iOi sac. In other townships
mIju.ity Of tie whole number are re.n-
larly bought or they WIN not v,te AZ All and
niF"nSh'u 'ut the country there is puchasa-
u" hd'lOt which will turn The scales one
way or the nther in spite of the honest men
on either side. Think # It. American r.ti-
%rnN sold like 50 mauy sw me al from twain.
I'VE dollaIs a aLead--chcap rihau even sW me.
No prit ciple; no truc panty loyalty: NJ III
fl"tlSm. S"ld ior a Ialtry bribc. Pan,
"a'it inr such r'"plr and o plcsrr.,, liz
lib Tie Of such that the soldIrts of thelr-
/ q
woIse--lhe niiuer tfaltitizcn whn purrh ,ses
or the nan o. los degree " ho sells the VOC?
l'e iempter or the tempted. Some l,y ii
excuse It On the ground that one must light
lire with ire-tIuly, but l,t il be The tt ii,
The lit that you light with the ii of heaven.
DO not 90 to the pit to get your fic. We
may mol do EVIL that good may come
10 all this political drprayty the pulpft
cahnot al d will not be silent 1t is Gn,l,s
appointed exponent Of rightcousurs Il
mas to condemn Professional pulrtics-tbr
making It trade to get aud to sell othr,,
as the 'ap.rOot Of tns ups tree OF cn,rtu.
tiOn. By various stems We have come t,lI.,.
condition that publ office should be the
fee Of party service. Politics br
comes vulgar trade instead OF Il noble pub-
lie service aLd party spirit becomes th,
mere stock in trade in which the lg,ier,
deal, srling out party At any time to rtain
ohiie. Tie growth Of thus political rroic,.
SionIlism was recently revealed in an adj.
"rrHS by New York city official well in
Ia NJ.